WASHINGTON -- Josh Bell has been a streaky hitter over his 10-year Major League career. And when he is clicking at the plate, there is no mistaking his momentum.
The Nationals' designated hitter is on a roll. Bell, who didn't appear in Washington's 5-0 loss to the Reds on Wednesday, is slashing .365/.450/.577 in his last 15 games, but his stretch of success has gone back even further.
Bell, 32, was batting .155 on May 27. He then homered the next three games against the Mariners and D-backs during a Nationals’ offensive spree.
In his last 32 games (dating back to June 12), Bell is slashing .309/.389/.491. He has recorded eight doubles, four home runs, 15 RBIs, 13 runs and 14 walks during that span.
• Before June 12: 42.1% hard-hit rate, 11.0% barrel rate, 27.6% whiff rate
• Since June 12: 52.1% hard-hit rate, 11.5% barrel rate, 19.3% whiff rate
“I was hoping for more long balls,” Bell said on Monday, his first night of back-to-back homers against the Reds. “I wanted to cut down on my strikeout rate, which I feel like I've done. Line-drive percentage has been through the roof for me, but I haven't been able to have the long ball. So it definitely felt good today.”
Bell’s name is likely to emerge in trade buzz with one week until the July 31 Trade Deadline. He is a well-respected veteran leader with postseason experience on an expiring, one-year $6 million contract. Bell, who played the first five years of his career with the Pirates, has been traded at the last three Deadlines.
“I think I was trying to do too much too early, and that's the name of the game,” Bell said. “I felt like I was one swing away -- and I felt that way for 150 at-bats. I can't take them back now, but I’m just trying to salvage what I can.”
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Bell set a statistical goal for himself: OPS. He has a career .784 mark, but it was only .503 by the end of April and stayed below .600 until May 29.
“I just tried to lower my launch angle, tried to focus on squaring up the ball as best as I can, tried to get my OPS over .600 -- so, I’ve done that,” Bell said on Monday. “Now I'm fighting for .700. We'll see where we go from there.”
Bell raised his OPS to .707 on Tuesday after hitting his 13th home run of the season.
“I feel like there's multiple ways that you can have OPS -- you can get on base, you can not strike out, or you can slug,” Bell said. “And I was trying to slug, and it really didn't work out. When I was looking maybe two months into the season, and I had like one double -- that just can't happen. So you can slug, hit the ball in the gap, hit the ball down the line, and I've tried to do that the last couple of months. And it's been working out.”
Bell has confidence in the duration of a 162-game season. He has a .221 career batting average in April/May, compared to .268 in July, as he is showing now.
“I trust myself,” Bell said. “Obviously, I'm always fighting for more, but I think I have a pretty consistent floor. I'm just trying to push my ceiling. That might get me in trouble from time to time, but I think the floor at the end of the year is always going to be at a certain level, which is why I'm still here.”